


Campfire

by DocGorpy



Series: Cicero [3]
Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Reality, Domestic Bliss, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 15:50:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18876319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DocGorpy/pseuds/DocGorpy
Summary: "I love that sound," he says, but then realizes that Sam can't hear it. "Sorry."Sam dismisses his apology, "Can you describe it to me?"





	Campfire

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this pretty quickly because I usually write quicker when I don't have anything in particular in mind, so here is another sweet domestic fic for you, with a pinch of angst. 
> 
> P.S.: I love you guys, thank you all for your kudos, bookmarks, and comments, especially your comments. You guys make me laugh a lot.

Grizz stands in his bedroom, in front of his mirror. It's an impossibly large one that he and his dad got at a flea market in the town adjacent to their own. His dad loved antique stuff. It has a small crack in the bottom right corner from when he and Luke were playing catch while hanging out in his room, way before the buses brought them to the other world. He remembers his dad looking it over and saying, "It has more personality this way." Grizz laughs to himself. His dad was great and everything, but he wished that both his parents were more accepting of his being gay. 

"You can't be my son and be gay at the same time, you have to choose."

He camped out for three days in the woods when his father said that to him. He only came back because he saw bear tracks around his campsite on the third day. His mother hugged him and kissed him like he had come back from the dead, and made his favorite soup, but said nothing about his coming out to them. His father never apologized or anything either, just clapped his hand on his shoulder and said, "Welcome back, son." He didn't know why he expected a different response from them than when his mother signed him up for peewee football when he was a little younger. 

"Knock, knock." 

Grizz is pulled out of his stupor, and sees Sam's reflection over his shoulder. 

"Are you ready?" He signs.

"Yeah, sure. You wanna go?"

Sam nods, taking the arm that Grizz has offered him as they get out of the house and walk to the church in their winter coats. 

The church is all decked out in Christmas decorations, the glee club is singing carols at the altar, and the chefs have put out a mouth-watering spread for everyone. Grizz pulls out a chair for Sam and sits in the empty chair next to Allie. 

"Merry Christmas, Grizz," she says, giving him a small present, daintily wrapped in Japanese paper. 

"Wow, thank you so much," he shakes the it close to his ear, "I wonder what this could be," but he doesn't even have to ask to know that it's a book from the shape and feel of it in his hands. 

"You're funny," Allie says dryly. "Just saying thanks is enough."

"We said no gifts," he says to the whole table in general. They all shrug unconvincingly, even Sam looks like he's in on the secret.

Allie explains, "It's a little thank you for finding land for us to farm, to survive. From all of us. We got all the expedition people something."

"Though we could never thank you guys enough," Luke pipes up, his hand entwined with Helena's, who nods in agreement. 

Grizz looks over the people at the table and quirks a smile, "Thanks guys. I love it."

The choir stops singing and the mic is grabbed by Bean, who has the improv class standing behind her again. She announces that they are going to do a play. 

"Not again, fuck you!" someone yells from the crowd. 

Bean clears her throat and reiterates, "We're going to do a play to make up for the shitshow that we did last time, sound fair?" 

There's a buzz of chatter in the room and someone starts clapping, soon the whole church has joined along. "Okay, thank you," Bean says, pleased. "Now, to avoid anyone going off in the wrong direction," she jabs her thumb in Lexie's direction jokingly, who crosses her arms stubbornly but nods in apology, "We've prepared a script for everyone. I know, I know, this way it's not really improv, but we really wanted to make things right. So here is 'A West Ham Christmas.'"

The play is sweet and short, and depicts a West Ham High Christmas party with some comedic jabs taken at particular people's expenses. Some of their parents and teachers are even represented in hilarious situations that may or may not have happened. It's all done in a good-natured way and everyone is left feeling a little lighter and nostalgic. Grizz is laughing and in tears as the last scene plays out, and he looks to Sam to see him with his cheek in his hand, giggling at the 'wasted' teenagers on the stage. 

"How accurate," he signs to Grizz.

"Yeah," Grizz agrees, and grins as he remembers something, "You know I had to take care of you for a while at our junior year Christmas party once, right? You remember that?"

Sam looks dumbfounded, shaking his head and turning to Becca for confirmation. Becca looks guilty and purses her lips, she signs 'yes' with one hand, holding a sleeping Eden in the other. Sam's brow furrows as he looks back to Grizz for an explanation.

"Well, Becca here had to go to the bathroom to puke, I think," Grizz glances at Becca, who looks mortified. "She caught me nursing a beer in the kitchen, I was the designated driver for the night and was only allowed to have one drink, then she dumped you on me and ran like hell for the bathroom. You were half passed out, that's _probably_ why you can't remember."

Sam's eyes are wide as he looks back at Becca. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," she signs repeatedly.

Grizz remembers the night vividly in his head. It was the first time he'd ever been alone with Sam. He knew Sam as the only out gay guy in school that he was aware of, and was envious of him. How Grizz longed to be that brave and unfettered.

Becca had dragged Sam into the kitchen and leaned him against Grizz, who had no trouble getting Sam to sit on the barstool next to his. He gently settled Sam's head to lay on the countertop and felt his soft, warm breaths on his palm as he slid his hand slowly from Sam's cheek. He couldn't get away so easily though, Sam had grabbed his hand and nuzzled his face into it, muttering something about going home. Grizz bit his lip, what was he gonna do? He couldn't think of anything that wouldn't involve waking Sam up abruptly, so he just stood there awkwardly, half bent over Sam, waiting for him to let go of his hand. 

It was a good thing that they were the only ones in the room that night, because it was difficult for him to keep himself from doing anything that would definitely look less than heterosexual to his friends or anyone else. He couldn't help it, he reached out with his unoccupied hand and touched Sam's hair, brushing it away from his face. He remembers thinking how long and pretty Sam's eyelashes were, and wishing he could see his eyes, because he always thought that they were so blue and gorgeous. He remembers thinking how perfect his lips looked and wondering how soft they were. He imagined what it would be like to finally be able to kiss a guy, to be able to kiss who he wanted to kiss.

Becca finally came out of the bathroom that night and woke Sam up. She asked Grizz if he could drive them both home, "I don't think either of us are in a condition to drive tonight. You can take Sam's car." Sam woke up, rubbing his eyes sleepily, and pulled out his keys sluggishly from his jacket pocket, placing them in Grizz's outstretched palm. 

"Okay, sure, yeah," Grizz had said, a little flustered, but glad that Becca hadn't noticed his predicament. 

"Thanks, Grizz, we owe you one." 

After the party at the church, Sam and Grizz are walking again, but this time to go home. They're both a bit exhausted, but their stomachs are full. They walk slowly this time since they're not in a hurry. 

"Sorry about before." Sam says, still a little embarrassed. 

"What, about me taking care of you and Becca? It was no biggie, don't worry about it." Grizz puts his arm around Sam's shoulders and gives him a kiss on the temple. 

"What did you think about me then?"

"I though you were cute," Grizz confesses. "You gave me a bit of a hard time pretending to be straight. I mean, look at you." 

Sam laughs, "You're just saying that to get me in bed."

"Maybe I am." Grizz wiggles his eyebrows and gives a lopsided grin. 

"I'm glad you are who you are," Sam says.

"Thanks?" Grizz cocks his head to the side, squinting in exaggerated confusion. 

Sam laughs, "What I mean is, thank you, for being you." Sam faces him and puts his hands briefly on Grizz's face, removing them to sign, "I had—have," he corrects himself, "a gay cousin in another city that used to get beat up by the closeted bully in his school. It turns out, that the guy had a crush on him all along."

"That's rough," Grizz shakes his head in disappointment. 

"It was, so thank you. I'm happy I found you."

Grizz starts a fire as soon as they get home, he stokes the flames and carefully and embers float up as the wood crackles soothingly. "I love that sound," he says, but then realizes that Sam can't hear it. "Sorry."

Sam dismisses his apology, "Can you describe it to me?"

Grizz plops down in front of the couch with Sam, they've lain down a few warm blankets and made eggnog with what Grizz was able to scrounge up from his kitchen. He was also able to dust up a bottle of Cognac from his dad's liquor cabinet. Seeing as it's their first Christmas together, it wouldn't be right not to have some classic spiked eggnog before bed. He gathers Sam in his arms and buries his mouth into his hair before pulling away a little to let him read his lips. 

"Well," he starts slowly, thinking, "it reminds me of the forest. It reminds me of camping out there, cozy, sitting at the mouth of my tent, reading a good book that I can't put down." He looks at Sam to see if he's following, Sam just has a dreamy look on his face that tells him to go on. "The crackles almost make me feel warmer, like crackling wood means a heartier fire. But the best fires for me, are the ones that are dying down, the crackling gets a little slower, like it's lulling you to sleep. It was one of the best things about camping out alone, an open fire, and nobody to bother me. I used to go out to just get away, you know?"

"Yeah." Sam's voice is softer and weaker, and Grizz notices that his eyes have gotten heavier. 

He continues his story, "When the fire is out, I take a moment to look up at the sky before I turn on my lamp, it's so clear without all the light pollution here in town. Then I zip up my tent, crawl into my sleeping bag, read a few final pages before I close my eyes and drift off. Sometimes I can still hear the sizzle of the fire I just put out, and it's the final sound I hear before my dreams start coming to me." Grizz looks at Sam and finds him fast asleep, so he closes his eyes, brings Sam a little closer to himself, and follows suit. 

Sam may not be able to hear, but his loss of one sense makes him significantly more aware of his other senses such as touch and taste. So even if he can't really hear Grizz's voice to make him fall asleep, he can feel the vibrations of his chest against his back, like you can feel the sound of the drums in your feet at a concert. Sam can tell the quality of a person's voice by their vibrations, and before he falls asleep, he thinks that Grizz's voice is the most beautiful sound he's ever felt. 


End file.
